

Read full reviewĬapricorn One is interesting and exciting, with a very well worked out plot and a fast-moving script, nicely enlivened by the all star cast. Now, a battle is raging to keep this conspiracy quiet. Only a crusading reporter, Elliott Gould, has figured it out, and they are after him too. Now the three are on their own and everybody is after them.to kill them, and cover up the hoax.

Now there is a real problem, and there is only one way to solve it. Everything went according to plan and the hoax was successful all the way to the end but the space craft crashed on landing and was totally lost. Reluctantly, they went along with the hoax. When the ship returned to Earth, they would be placed inside, and nobody would ever know.

The whole trip would be done without the astronauts. They will use the tapes of the voice communication from the simulations, and broadcast everything else from a sound stage that was identical to what would be seen from Mars, all from this remote building. But NASA is under fire and a screw up like this could mean the end of the space exploration program. At the last minute they found out that the space suits were defective and wouldn't have lasted. Quickly ushered into a meeting room they are now told what has happened. Still dressed in their space gear, with no idea what is going on, they land at a remote, deserted base in west Texas. In the mean time, the space ship has blasted off and is on its way to Mars. The head of the mission opens the door to the space capsule and says "Hurry up! Every body out"! Within minutes they are loaded upon a Lear Jet and are flying West. All of a sudden the last thing imaginable happens. Simpson, and Sam Waterston are strapped in their space craft and are going to blast off in minutes. Mars is a long way to travel and this trip will take more than a year. They have trained for years and every possible scenario has been explored. This is the longest journey ever attempted. However, if for personal reasons you can get past that, his screen time as the third wheel astronaut is quite minimal and of little importance to the film. This makes no sense as the 'powers that be' has already been successfully portrayed to the audience as a deadly serious foe who wouldn't allow Gould’s character to keep poking around.Įven so, Goldsmith's tense and commanding score anchors the film with themes based on the film's strengths: the lurking and deadly powers that be, James Brolin's stoic and determined astronaut, dynamic action sequences, and a couple of touching and underplayed scenes featuring Brolin's grieving wife (Vaccaro) and their young family.Īnd yes, O.J. Its other big problem is that once it is clear to Elliot Gould's pragmatic reporter character that he has been targeted for death by the lurking powers that be, he still returns in broad daylight to his own home, to NASA, and even visits astronaut Brolin’s wife for an interview. It gives in to small comedy bits using off beat supporting characters that work against it, not for it. Unfortunately, the film's script is uneven and undermined by two serious flaws that prevent it from delivering as the top notch action/political thriller it might have been. The film offers a wonderful, eclectic all star cast, all in their prime and making every effort to give this film their best: Elliot Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vacca ro, Sam Waterston, Hal Halbrook, Karen Black, Telly Savalas, with support from Robert Walden, David Doyle and David Huddleston. Jerry Goldsmith's score is outstanding and the film's action scenes involving aerial chases and stunts are quite riveting and very well done. Capricorn One builds on that premise as a scheduled manned Mars mission that has to be faked in its eleventh hour due to faulty life support systems, and how ‘the powers that be’ coerce the three innocent and unsuspecting astronauts into playing along.

#NETFLIX CAPRICORN ONE TV#
The film’s premise is based on the real rumors circulating at the time suggesting the 1969 Apollo Moon landing was faked using a TV studio. Just saw this film again on TCM I saw it in its original theatrical release in 1978. Uneven but worthwhile with excellent Goldsmith Score
